Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill throws to the plate during a rehab start for the Class-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes against the Lake Elsinore Storm on Wednesday night in Lake Elsinore. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill throws to the plate during a rehab start for the Class-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes against the Lake Elsinore Storm on Wednesday night in Lake Elsinore. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill throws to the plate against Lake Elsinore during a rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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The Dodgers’ Rich Hill throws to the plate against Lake Elsinore during a rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill warms up for his rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill laughs in the dugout during his rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill throws to the plate against Lake Elsinore during a rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill sits in the dugout before his rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill prepares for his rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill warms up for his rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at Pete Lehr Field in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill signs an autograph for Devin Harrington, 7, of Murrieta, before his rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Under the watchful eyes of fans, the Dodgers’ Rich Hill warms up for his rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill smiles after trying to field a bunt during a rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes against the Lake Elsinore Storm in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Fans get an up-close view as the Dodgers’ Rich Hill warms up for his rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill warms up for his rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill talks with Physical Therapist Jonathan Erb in the dugout during his rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Dodgers’ Rich Hill is welcomed into the dugout after throwing a four-inning rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes against Lake Elsinore during in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

On the fourth pitch, Storm left fielder Robbie Podorsky dropped a bunt down the third base line. Dodgers fans who made the trek to The Diamond might have cringed a little bit, recognizing that Hill, making a rehab start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, would have to put some stress on a knee recovering from a Grade I strain of his medial collateral ligament.

No worries. Hill fielded the bunt, planted and threw, although Podorsky beat it out. Then he turned and smiled toward the home dugout.

“I was laughin’,” Hill said. “A.J. (Ellis, a former Dodgers catcher and now a Padres special assistant in baseball operations) was over there, and I said, ‘Thank you for testing it out right away, right out of the gate.’ ”

That might have been the lone Lake Elsinore highlight in Hill’s four innings and 54 pitches, because this was not a man who took a casual approach to facing Class-A hitters.

From a stuff standpoint, he looked absolutely ready to face National Leaguers. He threw 36 of his 54 pitches for strikes, retired the last 10 men he faced and struck out eight, getting up to 92 mph on the radar gun and throwing some nasty curveballs that not only befuddled the opposing hitters but tested plate umpire Harrison Silverman.

If it were his choice, Hill would be facing the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field next week. But, of course, his will not be the final call. The thought early on was that he might need a second rehab stint, and the brain trust will be pondering the possibilities as they go over the reports of Wednesday’s start.

“I feel extremely ready,” Hill said. “But that’s somewhat not up to me. As much as I want to get out there and get going, we’ll see.

“I felt great the way the ball came out, (and) got stronger as the innings went along. I don’t know what the numbers were, spin rate or whatever you want to call it, but I can tell when it’s coming out of my hand the way I did today that it was good.”

There are major league pitchers who worry less about results and more about process when it comes to a rehab start. For Hill, there is no difference. Remember, this is a guy who was willing to go back down to the independent Atlantic League in 2015, at age 35, to keep pitching and somehow find a way back to the big leagues. Which he did.

You want a clue as to his intensity Wednesday night? You could hear his grunts of exertion all the way up in the press box. Yeah, it was a small crowd, but you didn’t hear anyone else on the field putting that much energy into it in such an audible fashion.

“I approach it (a rehab start) like any other time I get on the mound: Just attack and pitch with conviction and bring a high level of intensity,” he said. “It’s not really a matter of where it is, it’s just how you’re going to go about your business and what’s your identity when you go out there on the mound … a professional, major league pitcher who is going to continue as hard as I can for as long as I can.

“It’s not something that’s gonna change whether it’s a rehab start or in the bullpen or in the playoffs or World Series.”

The major leaguer returning to the minors can create a positive experience for all concerned. Hill said he didn’t get a sense the youngsters were awestruck Wednesday night, but he felt his job was to lead by example.

“Go out there and show them, ‘Look, it doesn’t matter where you are or where you’re playing,’ “ he said. “You bring the same attitude and the same effort no matter where it is, whether it’s in the back fields of Arizona or an inner city men’s league game. To be honest with you, it’s going to be the same. … It’s about your attitude and your effort, and being in the moment. The more times you can build that up, and the more times you can consistently have that attitude, you learn to keep yourself in the moment and stay in the moment.”

The Quakes’ youngsters might have absorbed some lessons. They had a 2-0 lead when Hill left, gave up the tying runs to the Padres’ farmhands in the eighth but rallied in the ninth to win 4-2.

The predetermined limit for Hill was going to be 60 pitches, followed by the equivalent of another inning in the bullpen. After finishing the fourth, he got in another 15 or so pitches in the ’pen, at the same intensity and velocity.

He figures his level of readiness is such that he can throw “100-plus” pitches his next time out.

From all indications, we shouldn’t have to worry about him fielding his position, either.

Jim Alexander is an Inland Empire native who started with his hometown newspaper, The Press-Enterprise, longer ago than he cares to admit. He's been a sports columnist off and on since 1992, and a full-time columnist since 2010. Yes, he's opinionated, but no, that's not the only club in his bag. He's covered every major league and major sports beat in Southern California over the years, so not much surprises him any more. (And he and Justin Turner have this in common: Both attended Cal State Fullerton. Jim has no plans to replicate Turner's beard.)